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New Ag-Gag Post Explodes on Social Media Sites

This morning a post written by independent journalist Will Potter made the front page of the social news website Reddit. It’s now blowing up on Twitter. Reaching thousands of people, Potter’s post detailed the first ag-gag prosecution in the United States.

A 25-year-old Utah woman who says she was standing on a public street outside a slaughterhouse used her cell phone to film an injured cow being carted away by a tractor lift. Amy Meyer now faces a class B misdemeanor for agricultural operation interference.

Ag-gag laws, like the one that passed last year in Utah, are specifically designed to silence investigators who expose animal welfare abuses on factory farms. But they can reach much further than that, potentially penalizing other witnesses and whistle-blowing workers. They can also hide other abuses, including food safety and labor violations. They criminalize acts including the recording, possession or distribution of photos, video and/or audio on a farm.

“This case illustrates the underlying intent of these laws: to keep citizens in the dark about what happens to animals on factory farms and where their food comes from,” says Suzanne McMillan, Director of the ASPCA’s Farm Animal Welfare Campaign.